fred johnson

I fear much written here does not reflect the comments I hear from active members. The one point that I will fully and enthusiastically agree with is that we have way too much focus on advancement. Advancement is important as a motivation, but it's just one part of the program. The outings and activities are more important. From the outings, advancement should be a natural result of actively going on outings. In recent years, I've seen multiple youth aging out going for Eagle that need help fulfilling their camping requirements. This always baffles me as the best parts of scout

Your situation is not unusual. COs often are distant to only start asking questions at some point years down the road. Just something to work through. Many units have had COs that are not real entities. It happens even though it's not preferred or even the BSA documented model. Often they are "parents of" organizations or a neighborhood group. In your case, your PTO is a legal entity and a non-profit as they are under the school district and school districts are non-profits. The real issue is probably that they don't want to give you their non-profit ID and are now ques

Yep. At some point, you need to hold your tongue. If it's mainly style (strickness, by the book, etc), then it's hard to argue. Personally, my ideal scoutmaster is still a very laid back person who watches from a distance. Who laughs with the scouts. Who mainly teaches by asking questions in a way that the scouts don't even know he knows the answer. Rarely, does my ideal scoutmaster actually direct anything. Rarely, does he take charge or raise his voice. But then scoutmasters change and the SM often sets the tone of the program. Similar with camping chair. Advancement. Treasure

No. If it was required to be an official scouting activity, it would say something such as what camping says "at designated scouting activities or events". Same with any other MB requirement. Trust and verify. Picture. Who was with you? Let me talk to them. etc. etc. etc.

I agree. IMHO, it's more about getting to know other scout leaders. Monthly does get to be a lot of meetings. I was thinking every three months would be nice, once a season. IMHO, round table is about the interaction with other scouters. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't attend. Heck, I remember being fairly new at round table and looking for any opportunity to ditch the cub breakout. It just was not good. The real value I found was chatting with other scouters.

I often wonder if district roundtables should be changed from monthly to every three or four months. Then on that date have more to train or announce or to do.

That's what I've seen too. The experience of the scouts is diminished because of the quantity of the adults. The adults feel the need to justify themselves being there by showing their value. Thus, inserting themselves regularly into the program. Plus, there is no way to get 12 adults to work in the same direction when their sons are involved. Eventually, everyone starts second guessing what's going on and the efforts of one group subvert the efforts of another.

What you described in your earlier post was good. I have no issue with it. But you effectively had one SM and one ASM because your ASMs assumed different roles. (see next comment)

IMHO, ya just don't need that may ASMs. In fact, it often damages the program. A good rule of thumb in my book is some ratio. Maybe 1 for every 15 to 20 scouts. If you have 10 scouts, do you really need an ASM? 30 scouts is good for one ASM. 50 scouts is good for two ASMs.

It's the trouble with troop shopping. One visit and/or one camp-out is just a throw of the dice. Ya really need to be with a unit for multiple events / activities over a period of time to form a fair judgement. My favorite is when a parent says "we joined because we really liked the SPL". Well, ya know SPLs are temporary and it's just a roll of the dice if the troop has a good SPL at any one moment. You don't know that. Maybe it's true, but you could have helped that troop be better. I always find it funny because there is almost zero pack shopping, but 100% troop shoppin

You may be joking, but I've seen things like that happen. Den leaders who starting looking for what the troop can do for them, etc and which troop will effectively please them the most.

That's my experience too. Then the other parents are starting at somewhere new and different. Longer drive for some. Less of a match than the previous location. New people. It may be good for the person driving the choice, but often it's an excuse to leave for others. There will always be good reasons to switch. Always. But as soon as I hear statements about the other troop being "adult led" I just shake my head. That's less about good/bad troops and more about labeling another troop to be the bad guy. IMHO, it's just not scout-like.

Everyone probably remembers this, but I'm really negative on the whole troop shopping experience. It's just hugely overblown, done poorly and rarely do families really choose the right match if there is such a thing as "the right match". Worse, it perverts the whole transition. Generally, I think there is more success in joining the troop that is part of the same COR. If you want a different unit, I'd prefer to view it as switching and it should be done at anytime during the scouting years. Why wait for that one specific time. A COR provides a continuum of scouting experiences from L

Many scouters have legitimate concerns about the gender policy change based on their values and why they are in scouting. Many scouters were also surprised how quick it happened. Or at least how little notice they were given. Civility - I do hope we can keep our frustration though to our selves or to our closest friends. Civility is important. Kindness and politeness is important. Most importantly, it's important to not damage a program we value because we ourselves feel damaged or less valued. Our April round table had council leaders attend to take questions. It was pre-an

Judging - I've always had a hard time judging from the outside. As often as I've been right, I've been wrong. I think this is especially true for scouts. What parents think is a good troop is often not what is good for the scout. Boy Led - It's subjective. What one person calls boy led is something another person would view as adult driven. What is perceived as boy led can often be a shell around an adult program. The key point is life lessons can be learned in many environments and often just by being an active troop that is camping and doing things. Don't invest too heavily in d

This circles back to focus less on the ideal and more on getting the scouts out and doing things. You can always teach life lessons. You can always build rapport to influence and improve the program. You just can't fairly expect everyone to get to the same vision of the BSA ideal instantly. It takes time to build a common vision.

After all these years, I worry less and less about boy-led, how many PLCs, who signs off on rank, etc, etc. I only feel strongly about a few things. Shield the scouts from the adults. The program exists for the kids. Let it be their program. IMHO, this is the primary role of the SM and CC. Worry less about "am I do scouting right" Invest way, way more in "what's the next adventure" Beyond that At the slightest whiff of the scouts taking responsibility and leadership, back off and let them have more. it's the reverse of the pattern our youth learn. Natu

Thank you !!!!!! You would think I would have known that by now.

Where can you get extra-TALL scout shirts. We have had several scouts that are over 6'4". They always had trouble getting a shirt to stay tucked in. We now have that again with a scout. Any advice on uniforming for a really tall scout ?

"stereotyped assumptions" are more correctly called bias or influence. To be bigoted, you need to do the next step that is in most definitions. Bigotry needs obstinance, hatred, intolerance toward another group or blind devotion to your own group. I often chuckle when I hear speakers use hateful intolerant speech often against another group that ends with phrases such as middle aged white men. I chuckle because what they are protesting is often not bigotry but their explicit speech is exactly bigotry.

@CalicoPenn ... Your argument is repetitive.

I think some were bad decisions and some were needed decisions. I think we can argue Lion and Tiger additions were bad as they hurt the troop later and create a bad long term reputation with-in the kids of that age. But I think we have not hit on a key issue. Yes, we've talked about family burn out, cubs being repetitive and now being 5+ years. But we have not discussed one big area that I often think about. CHOICE - Did the kid choose to be in scouts? Is the kid choosing to stay in scouts? Or, is it the parents choice? It's the biggest difference I'm seeing now. Scouts in scoutin

I understand your point, but the background is weak. It could be argued Ford made more changes earlier, but that would probably be a flawed argument too. There is a reason FORD stood for Found On Road Dead. There was a major quality problem for decades. Just like GM. Ford adopted many of the quality improvement programs driven by Deming in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming Ford continued change with Kaizen and other principles. https://www.am-online.com/news/2006/3/8/automotive-academy-and-ford-team-up-to-use-kaizen-best-practice/11268/

So so true.

Minnesota motto is "L'Etoile du Nord", the star of the north. Chosen in 1861 as a homage to the french traders and missionaries that helped settle the state.